Published: Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 6:14 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, June 23, 2013 at 6:14 p.m.

GERTON - Tori Ogren made no bones about the butterflies in her stomach as she and her boyfriend, Frank O'Donnell, waited for the start of the Bearwallow Beast 5K on Sunday.

"I'm pretty nervous," said Ogren, who had never run a 5K before. "I may vomit. But I'm not going to stop."

Billed as "one of the most unrelenting climbs" of any 5K in the Appalachians, the "Beast" is intimidating: the race begins just off Highway 74A in Gerton and climbs 3.1 miles to the top of 4,232-foot Bearwallow Mountain via a steep route of road and trail. O'Donnell, however, wasn't daunted.

"You've just got to put one foot in front of another, and breathe," he said. The Hendersonville couple trained for more than a year for the race, running 3 to 5 miles about five days a week on the hilliest sections of town they could find.

All the hard work and nausea paid off, as Ogren and O'Donnell crossed the finish line atop Bearwallow Mountain with a gun time of 50:11 each, in the middle of the pack between the 24:59 first place time and the 2-hour time set by the final stragglers.

The second time was a charm for race organizers, who had to postpone the 5K from May 5 due to extreme winds, cold, flooding and mudslides triggered by 2.25 inches of rainfall. Roughly 241 racers registered online for the May 5 event, but only 185 runners finished Sunday.

"I think considering the circumstances and the change of date, it turned out great," said organizer Julianne Johnson, administrative director of the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, which sponsored the race. "I was really pleased with the turnout."

CMLC uses the race as a fundraiser and a chance to promote conservation efforts on the mountain. Thanks to a conservation easement the Barnwell family granted in 2009, 81 acres at the top of Bearwallow will be preserved and remain accessible to the public. CMLC has an option with landowners to protect more than 470 acres on the mountain from future development.

Avid runner Jennifer Fisher, 32, didn't hear about the May 5 cancellation and drove up from her home in Columbus to find the race was off. Fortunately, she said, the drive back home wasn't bad, and she welcomed the chance to challenge herself against "The Beast" under better circumstances.

"I wouldn't have minded the rain, just not the floods," she said.

On Sunday, Fisher placed third among all female runners with a gun time of 32:45. Amber Reece-Young of Asheville placed first for the women, just behind second place overall finisher Jacob Schattel, 15, of Asheville and overall winner Shiloh Mielke, 33, of Weaverville. Mielke placed second in last year's race.

After finishing the race, runners sipped beer provided by sponsors Sierra Nevada and Southern Appalachian Brewery, listened to the band Brushfire Stankgrass and watched kids participate in a fun run late in the afternoon. Proceeds from beer sales and a raffle drawing will go to help CMLC's conservation work.

<p>GERTON - Tori Ogren made no bones about the butterflies in her stomach as she and her boyfriend, Frank O'Donnell, waited for the start of the Bearwallow Beast 5K on Sunday. </p><p>"I'm pretty nervous," said Ogren, who had never run a 5K before. "I may vomit. But I'm not going to stop." </p><p>Billed as "one of the most unrelenting climbs" of any 5K in the Appalachians, the "Beast" is intimidating: the race begins just off Highway 74A in Gerton and climbs 3.1 miles to the top of 4,232-foot Bearwallow Mountain via a steep route of road and trail. O'Donnell, however, wasn't daunted.</p><p>"You've just got to put one foot in front of another, and breathe," he said. The Hendersonville couple trained for more than a year for the race, running 3 to 5 miles about five days a week on the hilliest sections of town they could find. </p><p>All the hard work and nausea paid off, as Ogren and O'Donnell crossed the finish line atop Bearwallow Mountain with a gun time of 50:11 each, in the middle of the pack between the 24:59 first place time and the 2-hour time set by the final stragglers.</p><p>The second time was a charm for race organizers, who had to postpone the 5K from May 5 due to extreme winds, cold, flooding and mudslides triggered by 2.25 inches of rainfall. Roughly 241 racers registered online for the May 5 event, but only 185 runners finished Sunday.</p><p>"I think considering the circumstances and the change of date, it turned out great," said organizer Julianne Johnson, administrative director of the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, which sponsored the race. "I was really pleased with the turnout."</p><p>CMLC uses the race as a fundraiser and a chance to promote conservation efforts on the mountain. Thanks to a conservation easement the Barnwell family granted in 2009, 81 acres at the top of Bearwallow will be preserved and remain accessible to the public. CMLC has an option with landowners to protect more than 470 acres on the mountain from future development.</p><p>Avid runner Jennifer Fisher, 32, didn't hear about the May 5 cancellation and drove up from her home in Columbus to find the race was off. Fortunately, she said, the drive back home wasn't bad, and she welcomed the chance to challenge herself against "The Beast" under better circumstances.</p><p>"I wouldn't have minded the rain, just not the floods," she said. </p><p>On Sunday, Fisher placed third among all female runners with a gun time of 32:45. Amber Reece-Young of Asheville placed first for the women, just behind second place overall finisher Jacob Schattel, 15, of Asheville and overall winner Shiloh Mielke, 33, of Weaverville. Mielke placed second in last year's race.</p><p>After finishing the race, runners sipped beer provided by sponsors Sierra Nevada and Southern Appalachian Brewery, listened to the band Brushfire Stankgrass and watched kids participate in a fun run late in the afternoon. Proceeds from beer sales and a raffle drawing will go to help CMLC's conservation work.</p><p>For race results, visit http://rightontimeproductions.blogspot.com/</p><p>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.</p>